Introduction: The increasing need for pharmaceuticals and the processing of herbal medicinal products is quite tangible. Beyond that, there is a need to cultivate and increase the level of cultivation of medicinal species. In Iran, most of the medicinal plants used are harvested directly from their main habitat. This practice can not only threaten and degrade the habitat, but the collected product is not pure for various reasons and does not have desirable qualities. In the case of cultivating medicinal species and determining the amount of net income and their effective substances, they can be used as alternative cultivations for common plants in concerned areas. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to consider the economic aspect of cultivating medicinal plants.Materials and methods: In this research, only medicinally important species cultivated in Khorasan Razavi Province are discussed, such as: Descurainia Sophia, Echium, Cuminum cyminum, Anethum graveolens, Satureja hortensis, Alpinia officinarum and Glycyrrhiza glabra. In 2012, two methods to collect data and statistics were used: documentary and survey. The statistical population of this study was farmers who were cultivating medicinal plants in Khorasan Razavi. They were selected from the cities of Sabzevar and part of Neyshabour by a cluster sampling method. The obtained data has undergone a cost-benefit analysis and a profitability analysis has been performed and interpreted.Results and discussion: The results of this study indicated that the average total cost of production per hectare of Echium was 66 rials and average yield was 514 million. Costs for Descurainia Sophia were 7.4 rials and yield was 68 million. For Cuminum cyminum, the cost was 11.4 rials and yield was 2/58 million. Anethum graveolens cost 57.7 and yielded 343 million. Satureja hortensis cost 13.8 and yielded 80 million. Alpinia officinarum cost 8.5 and yielded 15 million. Cost for Glycyrrhiza glabra was 9.4 million rials per hectare with a yield of 51 million. The results of the study also showed that the average profit for farmers per hectare was 448.60 million for Echium, 282 million for Descurainia Sophia, 46.8 million for Cuminum cyminum, 285 million for Anethum graveolens, 66 million for Satureja hortensis, 7 million for Alpinia officinarum and 42 million for Glycyrrhiza glabra. Therefore, Echium and Anethum graveolens had the highest production costs, while Descurainia Sophia and Alpinia officinarum were the least expensive to produce. The highest income came from Echium production and the lowest income was from Alpinia officinarum. Echium was thus both the costliest to produce but also provided the highest income. The lowest profit came from producing Cuminum cyminum. The cost-benefit ratio for all medicinal plants were greater than one, indicating that the cultivation of medicinal plants has economic justification. The highest cost-benefit ratio was with Descurainia Sophia at 9.14 and Satureja hortensis at 7.65, which is very high. The lowest ratio is about 1.69 with Alpinia officinarumConclusion: The results of the research show that the cultivation of medicinal plants under the study primarily, has the cost-benefit more than one and therefore has economic benefits. Secondly, the cultivation of one hectare of herbs requires less water consumption than other crops and orchards. Therefore, medicinal plant cultivation is recommended to farmers.

Introduction: Plant breeders to select their breeding objectives through the physiological and morphological characteristics variation (Khazaei et al., 2016); require classification of the limitations and capabilities which exists in plants (Soltani et al., 2000); this issue for plant characteristics associated for yield increasing is important in crop breeding programs (Rotter et al., 2015). Therefore, the aim of this research was determine to indentify the effective agronomic traits on yield of local rice cultivars using multiple regression models in Sari region.Materials and methods: For experiment implementation based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications and 12 local rice cultivars, requirement data for using in regression modeling were collected. Using multiple regressions applied in order to determine the important traits and to show the contribution of each trait in formation of yield. The method identified the relation between yield and all variables. Also, according to the positive or negative correlation between the number of filled spikelet per panicle and harvest index, for indentifying yield variation of these traits, three hypotheses put forward and various aspects of them was examinedResults and discussion: Seven important traits including days to seed germination, days to pollination, days to physiological maturity, flag leaf length, number of filled spikelet per panicle, 1000-grain weight and harvest index which affected the most role on yield increasing were recognized their optimal values with multiple regression model. These seven variables explained 50% of yield. The results indicate that if the correlation between the number of filled spikelet per panicle and harvest index would be changed, it can be used for the benefit of yield. Regarding negative correlation between the number of filled spikelet per panicle and harvest index, three hypotheses were evaluated. If the negative correlation between the number of filled spikelet per panicle and harvest index is not breakable, the yield variation would have an increasing of 1722 (from 4581 to 6303) kg ha-1. If with increasing the number of filled spikelet per panicle, harvest index stay at moderate level, it would be an increasing of 1985 (from 4581 to 6566) kg ha-1, and if correlation between the number of filled spikelet per panicle and harvest index is breakable, it would be an increasing of 2747 (from 4581 to 7329) kg ha-1. The results of the method used in this study, due to the fact that the genetic differences between the cultivars are noticeable, can be a way for the breeders to move towards yield increasing in rice cultivars. Obviously, if the main goal is to determine the effective traits on yield of local rice cultivars in the Sari region, it is more appropriate to use more cultivars and years of experimentation.Conclusion: With selecting optimum amount of traits in model, would increase grain yield from an average of 4581 kg ha-1 to 6303-7329 kg ha-1. It was concluded that the method used in this study, because of concerning the genetic differences between varieties, can be used in determining yield increasing in conjunction with other methods and it can guide plant breeders to select important traits effective on yield.

Introduction: The value of medicinal plant production depends on plant quality. Stability, on the other hand, is less important. Because they compete for light, soil moisture and nutrients, weeds can reduce the yield of medicinal plants (Uchino et al., 2009). Using herbicides for weed control increases species resistance, environmental problems and costs (Sadeghi et al., 2003). An alternative weed control method, however, is the use of cover crops (Compigla et al., 2010) which have a vital role in sustainable agriculture, soil conservation and a healthy environment. Thus, we can select suitable species according to their physical and chemical properties for competition and ability to suppress weeds. The aim of this research is to investigate the role of two cover crops, mung bean (Vigna radiate L.) and Persian clover (Trifolium resupinatum L.) on weed control of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and borage (Borago officinalis L.).Materials and methods: Two field experiments were carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. In the first experiment, treatments included cover crops in the rows between the sweet basil while in the second one in the rows between the borage. Moreover, pure stand of sweet basil and borage without cover crops with weed infestation and weed free were used as controls for both experiments. The plots with cover crops included five rows of medicinal plants (in 50-cm row spacing with 5 cm between sweet basil plants and 20 cm between borage plants in the same row) and six rows of cover crops. The cover crop was inter-seeded simultaneously with the main crop.Results and discussion: The results showed that a pure stand of sweet basil and borage in a weed free section had the highest number of leaves, stem diameter and fresh and dry weight. On the other hand, there was minimal fresh and dry weight of sweet basil and borage in the presence of mung bean as a cover crop. Moreover, the presence of mung bean also minimized values for all morphological traits of sweet basil and borage. Maximum essential oil concentration and yield in sweet basil and borage were observed in pure stand with no weed interference. The mung bean cover crop was more successful in suppressing weeds compared to Persian clover and a further reduction in weed density and biomass was measured when it reduced the density and biomass of weeds in the sweet basil and borage from 50% to 100% in the first to third sampling. The results also showed that sweet basil and borage could not compete with mung bean in terms of the ability to withstand competition (AWC) with weeds.Conclusion: The conclusion is that using cover crops reduces weed growth, which can control weeds. Mung bean was more successful in suppressing weeds compared to Persian clover in sweet basil and borage farms, because it decreased weed density and biomass.

Introduction: Protection of crop and horticultural plant diversity in a region is regarded as one suitable approach to ensure the resilience of agroecosystems and orchards and their resistance to environmental instability and new pest threats. For example, enhancing diversity in fields and orchards in order to diversify disease resistance genes can lead to greater yield suitability, especially by buffering the influence of biotic stresses (Perronne et al., 2017). Biodiversity in the agricultural landscape has recently attracted more attention because it contributes significantly to agricultural productivity, food security and return on investment, as well as to the overall conservation of global biodiversity (Liu et al., 2013). Considering the importance of biodiversity in sustainable agriculture and the variability of agroecosystems in Golestan Province, the goal of this study is to assess the biodiversity and calculate the biodiversity indices of crops and horticultural products in this province from 1998 to 2014.Materials and methods: The required data for assessment of the biodiversity indices, including cropping area and important types of crops (including wheat, barley, rice, colza, soybean, cotton, fava bean and field pea) and horticultural species (such as citrus, strawberry, watermelon, plum and peach) for 14 regions in Golestan Province were obtained from the statistics and information center of the local Jihad Agriculture Management, statistical reports from Jihad Agriculture Ministry, and interviews with experts, managers and farmers, from 1998 to 2014. Organized by region and year, these crude data were entered into Excel and then certain indices such as Shannon, Margalef, Menhinick, Simpson, richness and Sorenson's similarity were calculated according to their equations (Moradi and Sami, 2014).Results and discussion: The results showed that agricultural biodiversity indices had a high variation in Golestan Province during this period. For example, the Shannon index decreased from 1.63 to 1.33 in agricultural crops, but horticultural products increased. Accordingly, the highest amount of Shannon diversity index for crop species was allocated to Bandar-Gaz (1.73) and Gorgan (1.72) and the lowest values ​​were observed in the Maraveh Tappeh (0.95) and Kalaleh (0.98) regions. This index for horticultural products was the highest in Gorgan (2.27) and Ali-Abad Katool (2.20), and the lowest was observed in Maraveh Tappeh (0.68) and Gomishan (0.93) townships. Also, according to the Shannon index, the Bandar-Gaz and Gorgan regions had the highest index of richness with 0.717 and 0.674, respectively, and the lowest values were calculated in Kalaleh (0.317) and Gonbad Kavous (0.393). Among the horticultural products, the richness index of Gomishan and Galikesh were the highest with 0.704 and 0.686. Maraveh Tappeh (0.254) had the lowest value. In this research, Sorenson's similarity index showed that Minoodasht with Kalaleh (0.95) and Aq- Qala (0.92) were most similar and Gomishan with Ali-Abad Katool (0.21) had the least similarity. Also, Bandar- Gaz and Kordkooy with values of 0.89 had the highest amount and Gomishan with Gorgan (0.11), Ali-Abad Katool (0.14) and Bandar-Gaz (0.19) had the lowest Sorenson index among horticultural products.Conclusion: During the study years, the diversity of crops and horticultural plants in the province had decreased and was inconsistent. The results mean that plant biodiversity has decreased in many regions of Golestan and has reached its lowest value. Only a limited number of regions had different cultivated crops. Infrastructure such as oilseed development centers and factories in this province will encourage farmers to cultivate oil crops such as soybean, rapeseed. In contrast, the cultivation of some crops such as cotton has stopped. In fact, for more profits with purchase by the government and pricing can encourage the farmers to cultivate certain crops. Therefore, by creating appropriate infrastructure, educating and encouraging farmers to use certain crops can contribute to the biodiversity and suitability of agroecosystems in Golestan.

Introduction: Intercropping is one of the best methods to increase forage production and improve quality. Selecting suitable plants for intercropping is critical to increasing crop production, improving yield quality, intensifying radiation capture, building biodiversity and finally, enhancing the productivity of the agroecosystem. Intercropping with cereals and legumes is an ecological strategy for improving quality and increasing yield. Maize (Zea mays) is a member of the grassfamily, Poaceae, which could produce high amounts of forage with high palatability and digestibility and low levels of protein. Sesbania (Sesbania sesban) is a legume with high protein quality and good digestibility that could boost forage production. This plant species is known as a forage crop tolerant to salt stress with a high adaptability to tropical regions. Intercropping sesbania and maize could produce high quality forage under tropical conditions. This research was conducted in order to evaluate the intercropping effects of maize and sesbania on forage yield and quality.Materials and methods: This experiment was performed using a randomized complete block design with three replications in a research field at Jiroft University. Experimental treatments included different ratios of replacement intercropping series (25:75, 33:67, 50:50, 67:33, 75:25), maize sole cropping and sesbania sole cropping. Plant density of sole cropping of maize and sesbania was 25 plants per m2. Evaluated traits were forage yield, crude protein, ash, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) and land equivalent ratio (LER).Results and discussion: The results showed intercropping had significant (pConclusion: The results of this study indicated intercropping of maize with sesbania improved forage yield and forage quality indices. The LER index also increased as a result of the intercropping. Therefore, intercropping of these crops showed more economic profit than sole cropping. Comparing different treatments indicated that a 50: 50 maize/sesbania intercropping (equal to 12.5 maize plants + 12.5 sesbania plants per square meter) was the best admissible intercropping treatment which presented the highest forage yield, suitable forage quality and greatest LER.

Introduction: Soil salinity is one of the most serious factors limiting crop growth and production in arid and semi-arid regions. The use of cycocel and bio-fertilizers, such as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), play a very important role in improving yield under salinity stress. Shaharoona et al. (2006) reported that the use of PGPR may be proper in developing strategies to facilitate plant growth in saline soils. Broetto et al. (2007) reported that salt stress decreased the chlorophyll content of maize, but inoculation with bio-fertilizers increased the chlorophyll pigments. Osman (2014) implied that treating plants with cycocel may increase the concentration of chlorophyll and carotenoids, accelerate the process of photophosphorylation, and stimulate the photosynthetic rate. Better understanding wheat responses under salinity stress may help in programs in which the objective is to improve the grain yield under salinity levels. The aim of this study, therefore, is to investigate the effect of soil salinity and seed inoculation with cycocel, pseudomonas and Azospirillum on photosynthetic pigments, grain yield and the grain-filling period of wheat.Material and methods: In order to investigate the effect of soil salinity and seed inoculation with cycocel, pseudomonas and Azospirillum on photosynthetic pigments, grain yield and the grain-filling period of wheat, a factorial experiment using a randomized complete block design with three replications was conducted at a research greenhouse of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili in 2016. Treatments included four levels of salinity (no salinity as the control and 25, 50, and 75 mM) as NaCl and seed inoculation with cycocel, Pseudomonas and Azospirillum in six levels (no seed inoculation as a control, inoculation with cycocel 10-5 and 6-10 mM, pseudomonas, Azospirillum and both applications of pseudomonas and Azospirillum). Pseudomonas putida strain 186 and Azotobacter chroococcum strain 5 were isolated from the rhizospheres of wheat at the Research Institute of Soil and Water, Tehran, Iran. For inoculation, seeds were coated with gum Arabic as an adhesive and rolled into the suspension of bacteria until uniformly coated. The strains and cell densities of microorganisms used as PGPR in this experiment were 108 colony forming units (CFU).Results and discussion: The results showed that the rate and grain-filling period, chlorophyll content a, b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids were affected by salinity levels, seed inoculation with cycocel, pseudomonas and Azospirillum at the probability level of 1%. Salinity decreased yield, root weight, chlorophyll content a, b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, rate and grain-filling period. These traits increased with inoculation with cycocel, pseudomonas and Azospirillum. A means comparison showed that the highest rate (0.00253 g/day) and grain-filling period (39.226 days) were obtained in no salinity with seed inoculation with Azospirillum and Pseudomonas. The lowest rate (0.01101 g/day) and grain-filling period (254.67 days) were obtained in the highest salinity level and without seed inoculation. In the highest salinity level (75 mM), chlorophyll content of a, b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids were decreased 23.31, 33.18, 22.61 and 42.62, in comparison with the non-salinity application. Seed inoculation with cycocel, Pseudomonas and Azospirillum increased chlorophyll content of a, b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids under normal as well as salinity stress conditions. The highest grain yield was obtained in a non-application of salinity, both application of Pseudomonas and Azospirillum, and the lowest of them was obtained in a salinity of 75 mM and inoculation with cycocel, Pseudomonas and cycocel.Conclusion: To conclude, it seems that seed inoculation with biofertilizers and cycocel can be considered as a proper tool for increasing grain yield and the grain-filling period under salinity stress.

Introduction: Climate change has led to a shift in vegetation phenology, especially in arid and semi-arid rangelands. This is because plants in arid and semi-arid zones are very sensitive to environmental changes and are highly vulnerable to climate change. Remote sensing is an inexpensive and rapid technology of acquiring earth surface information over a large geographical area. Moreover, this technology provides time series datasets from accessible and inaccessible regions. These are important tools for a number of environmental studies such as identification and calculation of phenological shifts in vegetation (Gosh and Chandra, 2000). Since phenological shifts of rangelands and rain-fed areas including wheat and barley has not received enough attention, this research has investigated the effect of climate changes on the vegetation phenology parameters at two different altitudinal levels.Materials and methods: Shifts at some phenology points such as the start, end, and length of vegetation growing seasons, can be estimated using remote sensing time series data (Butt et al., 2011, Heumann et al., 2007)­­. Therefore, this research employed NDVI index time-series data derived from NOAA-AVHRR during 1984-2013, and also a series of temperature data measured with nine local weather stations over the same duration to study phenological shifts in vegetation and climate change. This research also investigated the impact of climate change on the phenological shifts of rangeland at altitudes lower and higher than 2,000 meters in the southern slopes of the Alborz Mountains in Iran. TIMESAT software was used for analyzing the time-series of satellite data and for filtering the NDVI time-series data with the Savitzky-Golay technique. Furthermore, RClimDex software was employed to analyze and detect the meteorological data change trends.Results and discussion: From the results obtained by applying the NDVI time-series data analysis, the periodic fluctuation of the length of the growing season at altitudes higher than 2,000 meters in Semnan Province was negligible because it was less than 1.5 days. In the case of Zanjan and Tehran provinces, the length of the growing season had decreased by 2.8 and 7.4 days, respectively. Similarly, the length of the growing season at altitudes less than 2000 meters had decreased in all three study areas, by 2.1 days in Zanjan, by 1.6 days in Semnan, and by 8 days in Tehran. Although it can be concluded that the length of the growing season in both altitude levels has decreased, the magnitude of the phenological shifts was greater in the lower altitude rangelands. These results are because of delays in the start of the growing season as well as an early end. It seems possible that these results are due to an increasing number of warm days and a decreasing number of cold nights in the month of Esfand, which marks the start of the season (SOS). An increasing number of warm days in the month of Khordad, the end of the rangeland growing season (EOS), has also led to the decreasing length of the growing season and has accelerated the herbaceous senescence. The results of this research showed that vegetation phenology parameters are sensitive to changes in climatic elements at different levels of altitude. These indices can therefore also be employed as a criterion for climate change detection in other areas.Conclusion: Vegetation phenology is sensitive to the shifts in climatic elements at different altitudinal levels; hence, phenological parameters can be used as a benchmark to detect the climatic changes of other regions (Piao­ et al., 2006).